The Top 5 Most Jaw-Dropping Chess Moments of 2025

Greetings, welcome back to the Hornet Editorial! 2025 is quickly coming to a close, and once again it's just as crazy how fast the time flew by this year. At year's end, it's a tradition to look back and reflect on the moments that defined us in the past twelve months. Like in life, chess too had it's own tumultuous year, ranging from moments of eureka to great sadness.

Today, I'll be looking back at the top five most jaw-dropping moments from the chess world this year. You may be able to guess a few of them, but if you disagree with my choices, let me know in the comments below.

5. Hikaru Clinches Candidates Spot

On November 11th, 2025, Hikaru Nakamura clinched his spot in the 2026 Candidate's Tournament, which will be held in Cyprus. This came after he won the 1st Annual Washington Dulles Open. While every other prominent grandmaster took the usual route of clinching a Candidates spot in the Fide World Cup, Hikaru decided to take the "rating pathway". This path allows the highest rated player to make himself eligible by being  completing a 40-game classical requirement by Fide. Hikaru, having the highest rating  accomplished this game requirement by competing in several smaller tournaments scattered across the country, By doing so, Hikaru will most likely appear at the 2026 Candidate's. 

It's a big moment for American chess, as Hikaru has been the favorite to win the Candidate's in years past, but has failed to do so. This time is different though as Hikaru has made significant improvements and has proven himself to be a worthy challenger thus far. A chance to challenge Gukesh, the youngest world champion in history would be a big moment for Hikaru and the broader American chess community. It's something I will be personally keeping a close eye on in the upcoming year (and possibly a close pen too 👀). Speaking of Gukesh....

4. Mishra Defeats Gukesh

On September 8th, 2025, the youngest grandmaster in history, Abhimanyu Mishra, became the youngest player ever to win a classical game against an incumbent World Chess Champion. 

It was a shock to be sure, but it was less of an embarrassment to Gukesh than a profound statement on how dominant Indian chess has become. India may only account for around 5% (89 total) of all the of the world's grandmasters, but considering their first grandmaster only came in 1988 (Vishy Anand), they've had significant growth since then. Young Indian chess players have rapidly been taking over the game for years now, and by the end of the decade, India may be the dominant country in chess. If you're interested in this topic, I'd suggest reading this post made by @Fire about the subject.

3. Hikaru Throws The King

In October, at the Checkmate: USA vs India in Arlington, Texas, a viral and controversial moment happened between World Chess Champion Gukesh and World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura. Hikaru had just sealed the 5-0 sweep for Team USA when he took Gukesh's king and threw it to the crowd.

The action sparked an outcry from Indian fans, who called the gesture "disrespectful and unnecessary". On the other hand, Hikaru responded saying that players were encouraged to engage in such theatrics, breaking typical Fide etiquette. Despite this, Hikaru did apologize to Gukesh after their game. It was quite a notable moment, as clips from the chess world rarely make hits on social media. Little did we know, it wouldn't be the last.

2. Carlsen's Classical Crashout

One of the more shocking moments of the chess year unsurprisingly came from man the himself, Magnus Carlsen. It was Norway Chess 2025 and Carlsen was up against Gukesh in a classical matchup.

Gukesh had been in a losing position most of the game, but as Magnus' time began to dwindle, so did his advantage. What was a winning position became a losing one once Magnus blundered with 52. Ne2+. Magnus went on to resign, but not without a lot of theatrics. In probably the most viral chess clip of the year, Magnus Carlsen slammed his fist onto the table following his loss to Gukesh.

Many from the Indian faction were quick to condemn Carlsen's behavior, deeming it to be poor sportmanship. In response to the moment, Gukesh told reporters, "I've also banged a lot of tables in my career!" Magnus had his own thoughts too, further expressing his frustration with the classical format.

I think I'll play the last three games (in Norway Chess), and then I will have to make some decisions about next year here or potential other tournaments later, because, yeah... I just don't enjoy (Classical chess) that much.

The whole incident was the talk of the town for a while, but there was one tragedy no one could see coming...

1. The Death of Daniel Naroditsky

You probably were able to guess this before you read the blog, but the death of Daniel Naroditsky was undeniably the most jaw-dropping chess moment of 2025... by a longshot. I know the following phrase is used too much, but this event did shock the chess community to it's core.

It's always a tragedy when a man or woman passes at such a young age. This time was no different. I think it's inevitable to wonder "what could have been" especially in the case of Danya. What if we had acted sooner on the allegations that were damaging his life? What if Danya could have reached his full potential? We'll never know now, and that's what I think hurts the most. It's a New Year very soon though; A new chance to remind those closest to us how much they mean, how important they are, and how much we love them. Those messages will forever outlive our bodies, and I think that's the takeaway we should all have from this.

Thank You

Thank you for reading this edition of the Hornet Editorial! Since this will be my last post of 2025, I'd like to thank all of my faithful readers who have stuck by over the past year. It's been a blessing to write whenever I have the chance and I hope I have more chances to do so in the coming New Year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and happy times with your family. See you in the next one

- Hornet